The delegation of St.Petersburg headed by A.V.Prokhorenko, Chairman of the Committee for External Relations, visited the partner city of Hamburg (Germany) on February 2 through February 3, 2009. Within the framework of the visit, a joint «Action Plan for 2009-2011» was signed on February 2.
The delegation of St.Petersburg headed by A.V.Prokhorenko, Chairman of the Committee for External Relations, visited the partner city of Hamburg (Germany) on February 2 through February 3, 2009. Within the framework of the visit, a joint «Action Plan for 2009-2011» was signed on February 2. The plan involves the participation of both Hamburg and St.Petersburg and provides for the implementation of more than 90 joint projects in the areas of education, public health services, environment protection, economy, and municipal housing.
In the course of negotiations, A.V.Prokhorenko, Chairman of the Committee for External Relations, and Karsten Ludemann, State Councillor for International Relations at the Senate of Hamburg, also settled an agreement to develop the cooperation of the two cities in the areas of innovations and sharing the experience on harmonizing the inter-ethnic and interconfessional dialogue, and to assist the projects common for all Baltic rim countries.
After the ceremony of signing the «Action Plan» in the building of the Senate of Hamburg, a presentation was held featuring a new edition issued by the Informative Business Center of St.Petersburg in Hamburg - the guidebook «St.Peterburg-Hamburg - Tourism and Business».
Pursuing the visit's purposes, A.V.Prokhorenko negotiated with the representatives of Public Education Department of Hamburg concerning the assistance of St.Petersburg in founding a bilingual Russian-German school in Hamburg.
For establishing of such a school, which is now in great demand in Hamburg, it is necessary to conclude the corresponding agreement between the Senate of Hamburg and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation. In case of opening of such school, St.Petersburg could provide the educational and methodical materials needed. According to the «Action Plan» signed by Hamburg and St.Petersburg, the Committee for External Relations plans to hold in Hamburg educational seminars for teachers of Russian and extra training courses for teachers, and to encourage the participation of schoolchildren from Hamburg, who are interested in Russian language and culture, in international youth forums and summer camps.
During the visit, A.V.Prokhorenko met with Reinhard Stutt, Hamburg State Secretary for Culture, Mass-media, and Tourism. Participants of the meeting have agreed to activate the cooperation in tourism using the resources of the Informative Business Center of St.Petersburg that have been successfully working in Hamburg for several years already.
Members of delegation also met with Karl-Joachim Dreher, Vice-President of Hamburg CCI who had taken an active part in preparation and impementation of certain economic programs of Hamburg and St.Petersburg cooperation.
On February 3, within the confines of the business component of the visit, the Hamburg CCI held a seminar for the representatives of German innovative companies with an emphasis on cooperation prospects in the area of medical equipment production.
As A.V.Prokhorenko mentioned at the seminar, it was the first time for more than 50-year-old partnership when the authorities of Hamburg and St.Petersburg set the highest priority for the cooperation in the area of high technologies and innovations, along with the already traditional areas.
S.I.Tsybukov, Deputy Chairman of the St.Petersburg CCI Council, who also attended the seminar, invited the German enterprises to co-operate over a number of specific innovative projects, including the medical equipment production.
A.M.Elinson, Deputy Director of Petersburg enterprise «Electron» - one of the Russian leaders in the production of the x-ray equipment, told the German colleagues about already available experience of teamwork with German companies. S.L.Litvinova, the head of Petersburg enterprise «Medtekhnika», presented to the seminar participants a system of public health services actual in St.Petersburg, and informed about the requirements and prospects of technical refurbishment for Petersburg clinics. The German party presented to the seminar participants a system of state support for the innovative companies, operating in Hamburg. A.V.Prokhorenko also took part in the current session of the executive board of the Organization for Subregional Cooperation of Baltic Rim Countries.
Source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg